Apparatus for the manufacture op vinegar



Dec. 18 1923.

c. L. HINKLE APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE or vmmem 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 17.

C. L. HINKLE Dec. 18, 1923.

F VINEGAR 2 Sheets-Sheet z Filed Mrch 17. 1925 Patented Dec. 18, 1923.

UNITED STATES CLAUDE L. HINIKLE, F WINCHESTER, VIRGINIA.

APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF VINEGAR.

Application filed March 17, 1923.

T0 aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLAUDE L. HrNxLn, a citizen of the United States, residing at W inchester, in the county of Frederick and State of Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for the Manufacture of Vinegar; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification.

This invention relates to apparatus for manufacturing vinegar and particularly seeks to improve that portion of said apparatus that distributes the vinegar stock or mix over the filling in the generator.

It is well known that the greatest loss sustained in the manufacture of vinegar is attributable to the inefiiciency of the generator caused, it is believed, by the unequal distribution of the mix over the generator filling and the comparatively high temperatures that are present at the top of the generator. With these defects in mind, an object of the present invention is to provide a novel rotary diffusing device that will insure an equal distribution of the mix over the gen erator filling and which will permit the temperature at the top of the generator to be maintained at a point that will increase the efficiency of the generator.

In accordance with general practice the present apparatus comprises a tank for periodically supplying a predetermined quantity of mix to the generator and a further object of this invention is to arrange said tank, diffuser and the intermediate supply connections in a unit that can conveniently be ap lied to and removed from the generator. his mounting or dismounting of such a unitary arrangement consumes very little time and once the tilting tank has been adjusted for supplying a certain volume of mix, the entire distributing or diffusing mechanism can be removed and replaced any number of times without additional adjustments of any of the parts.

With these and other objects in view the invention consists in certain novel details of construction and arrangements and combinations of parts all as will be hereinafter more fully described and the novel features thereof particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a side view of the apparatus Serial No. 625,835.

embodying the present invention, the upper portion of the generator being shown more or less diagrammatically;

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the same, except that none of the generator is illustrated Fig. 3 is a top plan view; and

Figs. 4 and 5 are detail views of the rotary diffuser or distributer head.

The present invention is applicable practically to any style of vinegar generator, the only requirement being that the generator top be provided with an opening 11 therein.

Stated generally, in the structure embodying the present invention there is a base 12 that rests upon the generator top 10, the tilting supply tank 13 being mounted on the upper side of said base and the rotary distributer head or diffuser 14 being mounted on a depending supporting bracket 15 carried by the base and extending down through said opening 11 in the generator top.

For mounting the tilting tank 13 above base 12, the latter has two uprights or standards 16 at its sides and embedded or otherwise secured in said standards are suitable bearings such as small brass blocks 17 having dished upper surfaces. The sides of the tank are reinforced or made of additional thickness at points adjacent the base standards 16 and at each of these points the tank has a recess 18 therein for a close fitting brass pin 19. These pins 19 are slightly inclined to the horizontal and at their outer ends take a bearing on the bearing blocks 17 in the standards. Accidental displacement of the pins 19 by an outward movement is prevented by steps 20 secured on the uprights 16.

The tank 13 is mounted a little off center, i. e., a. little to the rear, whereby it would tilt forward unless some means were pro vided for preventing such a movement and to prevent this'tilting of said tank until a predetermined quantity of mix has been deposited therein it is weighted at its rear side. This is done preferably by placing a series of small weights 21 in a vertically disposed recess or slot 22 at the rear of the tank, the bottom of said slot being closed by a removable plug 23 and its top open whereby weights may be placed in and re moved from the slot as desired to vary the volume of mix necessary to tilt the tank.

In this way the tilting of the tank. can be accurately regulated even for measuring very small quantities of mix. A cross bar 2 1 on the standards 16 limits the forward tilting of the tank.

At its front, the tank is provided wlth an outlet pipe 25, preferably in the form of an elbow suitably supported in the tank, and when the tank is tilted said pipe moves down into the upper end of a supply pipe or duct 26 which communicates with the diffuser or distributer head 1a below the base.

Supported. by and depending from base 12 is an L-shaped arm or bracket 15 which extends through openin 11 in the generator top into the chamber containing the generator filling. The rotary distributer head or diiluser 1 is rotatably supported on a pivot pin 27 embedded in the bracket and said bracket is of a. length whereby the head will be located immediately above the generator filling. To prevent corrosion and to impart durability to this portion of the apparatus, said pivot pin is preferably made of brass and the bottom face of the diffuser 1e has a bearing for the pin formed by a small brass cylinder embedded therein. ln its preferred form, the diffuser is also made substantially circular with an inlet opening 28 located centrally in its upper face and extending from said inlet opening to the periphery of the diffuser are a plurality (usually two) of outwardly flaring discharge passages 29. The supply pipe or duct 26 is secured in the inlet opening 28 of the diffuser and ex tends upwardly through the'generator top and an opening 80 in the base 12, its upper end being enlarged or funnel-shaped as at 31 to receive the outlet pipe 25 of tank 13 when the latter is tilted as before described.

The vertically disposed supply pipe 26 is connected to and rotates with the diff user, the clearance between said pipe and the vall of opening 80 in base 12 being very sligl1t,just enough to prevent wabbling of said pipe without interfering with its free rotation.

The flared side walls of the outlet passages 29 in the diffuser are struck on a shorter radius than the radius of the circular diffuser itself and when tank 13 is tilted to deliver a quantity of mix into the upper end of supply pipe 26, the force of the mix flowing down through said. pipe and into the outlet passages of the diffuser will cause said mix to be discharged from the diffuser in a fan-shaped form and somewhat tangentially so that the difluser and its supply duct 26 will be rotated on the pivot pin 27 by the reaction of the liquid or mix being discharged.

The tank 13, the diffuser 14c and its supporting bracket 15, and the duct 26 being all supported or carried by base 12, and being fixed with relation to each other, all of these elements may be removed from and replaced on the generator top as a unitand this without disturbing the relative positions of the several parts. The advantage of this will be better appreciated when con sidered in connection with the number of times access must be had to the generator. Another important feature of this arrangement is that the diff ser and its support are carried by the base 12 whereby the entire upper surface of the generator filling may be left uncovered and a comparatively low temperature maintained at this point.

As it is sometimes found desirable to remove the bracket 15, the diffuser 1% and the supply duct 26 alone, the bracket is supported from a removable portion 12 of the base. This removable portion has an opening therein for th duct 28 (opening 30) and seats in an opening in the base large enough to permit the passage therethrough of said bracket and dii'l'user. The various parts are preferably of specially treated wood or hard rubber to prevent corrosionand increase their durability and while bracket 15 may be made in various ways it is here illustrated as being formed in sections joined together by brass screws. The bracket is also preferably secured to the base by brass screws.

Vfhat is claimed is 2- 1. in an apparatus such as described, the combination of a base adapted to rest on the generator top, a measuring tank, a diffuser carried by the base beneath the latter and adapted to distribute the mix over the generator filling, and means carried by the base for delivering the mix from said tank to the diffuser, said base together with said diffuser and delivering means being removable from the generator as a unit.

2. in an apparatus such as described, the combination of a base adapted to rest on the generator, a measuring tank pivoted on (he base, means for regulating the tilting of said tank, a diffuser carried by the base beneath the latter, and means carried by the base for delivering the mix from said tank to the diffuser, all of said elements together with said base being removable from the generator as a unit.

8. In an apparatus such as described, the combination of a base adapted to rest on the generator, a tilting tank above the base for measuring the mix, means for tilting said tank upon the deposit therein of a predetermined quantity of mix, a rotary diffuser below said base for distributing the mix over the entire surface of the generator filling, and means for delivering the mix from said tank to the diffuser, all of said elements being removable from the gen crator as a unit.

4:. In an apparatus such as described, the combination of a base adapted to rest on the generator, a measuring tank pivoted on the base, means for regulating the tilting of said tank, a depending bracket on the base, a diffuser rotatably mounted on said bracket, and means for delivering the mix from said tank to the diffuser, all of said elements together with the base being removable from the generator as a unit.

5. In an apparatus such as described, the combination of a base adapted to rest on the generator, standards mounted 011 the base, a measuring tank pivoted in said standards, means for regulating the tilting oi the tank, a depending bracket on the base, a rotary dil'l'user supported on the bracket, and means for delivering the mix from the tank to the difiuser, all of said elements being removable from the generator as a unit.

6. In an apparatus such as described, the combination of a base adapted to rest on the generator, standards mounted on the base, a measuring tank pivoted in the stand ards, means for regulating the tilting of said tank, a depending bracket on the base, a rotary dili'user supported by the bracket, a duct for delivering the mix from the tank to the diffuser, said duct being supported by the bracket and rotatable with the dif- 'luser, all of said elements being removable from the generator as a unit.

7 In an apparatus such as described, the combination of a base adapted to rest on the generator, said base being made in sections, a tilting tank supported from one section of the base, and a diffuser and delivery duct supported from the other section whereby the difiuser and duct may be removed from the generator independently of the other section of the base and tank.

8. In an apparatus such as described, the combination of a tilting tank, a rotary diffuser adapted to be located above the generator filling, and means for delivering the mix from the tank to the ditiuser, said diftuser having a centrally disposed inlet opening and tangentially arranged outlet passage extending from said inlet to its periphery.

9. In an apparatus such as described, the combination of a tilting tank, a substantially circular rotary diffuser, said dili'user having a centrally disposed inlet opening, and means for delivering the mix from the tank to the diffuser, there being outlet passages in the ditluser communicating with said inlet and extending to the periphery of the diffuser, the side walls of said outlet passages being struck on a radius less than that of the diffuser.

10. In an apparatus such as described, the combination of a base adapted to rest on the generator, a tilting measuring tank for the mix mounted on the base, a rotary diffuser mounted on the base beneath the latter, means carried by the base and rotatable with the diffuser for delivering the mix from the tank to the ditluser, there being tangentially arranged outlet passages in said diffuser for distributing the mix over the entire generator filling and all of said elements being removable from the generator as a unit.

CLAUDE L. HINKLE. 

